Nation salutes the warrior dead

Thousands of demonstrators burst into fury and vowed to intensify the ongoing mass protests across the country as the body of cyber-warrior architect Ahmed Rajib Haider Shuvo lay in state at Shahbagh Projonma Chattar on Saturday afternoon.

The protesters also promised to avenge the killing of Rajib, who was chopped to death on his way home from the Shahabagh demonstration on Friday night, and some incidents of a backlash were already reported.

Touching the body of Rajib, brought to the venue by pallbearers around 5:45pm for Namaj-e-Janaza after Asr prayers, they also vowed to continue with their non-stop movement with a greater goal of rebuilding Bangladesh on the ideals and spirit of independence.

The protesters chanted various slogans in protest against the killing of Rajib, one of the organisers of the Shahbagh uprising, surrounding the body of the new-generation freedom fighter.Enraged over his death, they chanted fiery slogans like ‘Shaheed Rajib er rokto amader dhomonite (Rajib’s blood flowing in our vein)’ and ‘Aar noy protirodh, ebar hobe protishodh (no more prevention, its time for taking revenge)’.

Members of Muktijoddha Sangsad gave ‘guard of honour’ to Rajib, terming him ‘a freedom fighter of the new generation’.

As the dawn broke, people from all walks of life, including students of schools, colleges and universities, all wearing black badges, thronged the ‘Projonma Chattar’ to pay their last respects to Rajib and protest the killing of the crusader.

The protestors called for listing the names of Jamaat-Shibir men of each para, mohalla and village all over the country to take action against their acts of “terrorism and killings”.

Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life joined Rajib’s funerals.

Sajib Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, paid tributes to the slain blogger-turned-protest organiser by placing wreaths on his coffin and joined his mass funeral.

An IT expert, Joy, also grandson of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, expressed solidarity with the youth-led movement demanding execution of all war criminals.

After janaza at around 6:00pm, the body was being taken on last ride to his village home in Kapasia upazila of Gazipur at night to be laid to rest at family graveyard on Sunday morning.

Rajib Haider used to write in blog under the pseudonym ‘Thaba-Baba’, which earned him the ire of the assailants.

Earlier in the morning, the agitators also observed one-minute silence to venerate the slain Rajib at the Shahbagh square, the cradle of the youth-led popular movement demanding capital punishment of the war criminals.

The organisers on Friday night went back to their round-the-clock movement instead of seven-hour programme which they had declared hours before the death.

As the news of killing the Rajib spread, thousands of people, mostly students of different educational institutions, including Dhaka University, retuned to the bastion after 11:00pm Friday and passed their night at Ganojagaran Mancha protesting the murder.

The protesters were carrying banners inscribed with the demand for exemplary punishment to the killers of Rajib.

Cultural personally Ramendu Majumder and film-actor ATM Shamsuzzaman also joined the protest in the morning.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the slain Rajib’s residence at Pallabi around 3:45pm and consoled the bereaved family members. The premier stayed with the family members for 25 minutes.

Sheikh Hasina said, “Jamaat is not a democratic party. Jamaat-Shibir has no right to do politics in the country. They will not be spared anymore.”

The prime minister also said that they (government) would not spare the killers of Rajib and also sought cooperation of the people in nabbing those involved in the killing. Earlier in the morning, home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir visited the victim’s house and assured the family of giving exemplary punishment to the killers. IGP Hasan Mahmud Khandkar also visited the spot.

Meanwhile, six Indian youths came to Bangladesh riding bicycles from Kolkata to join the Shahbagh uprising to express their solidarity with the countrywide protests against the war criminals.

The six Indian nationals are team-leader Chandan Saurab, Sattyjit Ray, Gautam Sarkar, Subrata Sarkar, Debanchan Chakrabarty and Sanarvo Chakrabarty.

Bangladesh expatriate in the USA Mohammad Hasan Nawaz also joined the team.

They entered Bangladesh through Chuadanga border on Friday to join the Shahbagh uprising and to pay tribute to language movement martyred heroes Salam, Jabbar and Rafiq. The team will reach Dhaka on February 20 on the eve of the International Mother Language Day.

A procession of Institute of Architects Bangladesh with a banner that reads “we want death penalty for all war criminals and punishment of the killers of Rajib” joined the protest.

On February 5, the Shahbagh protest broke out just hours after the verdict sentencing Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah to life in jail when an online activists’ group, Blogger and Online Activists Network, gave a call through online social networks to wage protests against the verdict.

The Shahbgah bastion sparked off countrywide protests against the ICT-2 verdict that sentenced Quader Molla to life in jail while people of the country demand capital punishment.

Rajib's last trip to home

In the February 16 photo, the body of blogger Rajib popularly known as thabababa is taken to Shahbagh for namaj-e-janaza. Rajib, an avid activist of the Shahbagh movement demanding death penalty for war criminals, was murdered in Mirpur Friday night. 

The body of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was brutally killed by unknown assailants in the capital's Pallabi area, was taken to his Kapasia residence in Gazipur Sunday morning.
Rajib, an activist of ongoing Shahbagh movement, was found stabbed dead near his Palash Nagar house in Pallabi Friday night.
Lamentation and grief of the slain blogger's relatives and neighbours filled the air when the ambulance carrying the body reached Rajib's ancestral house near Kapasia bus stand around 9:30am.
Rajib will be buried at his family graveyard at Sharashpur village in Kapasia after his two namaz-e-janazas on the premises of Kapasia Pilot High School and Syedpur Eidgah School after Zohr and Asr prayers respectively.
A pall of gloom descended on entire Kapasia after Rajib's death news reached his village home on the fateful night.
To mourn Rajib's death, Upazila Awami League on Saturday declared a two-day programme including wearing black badges, hoisting black flags at all business establishments and residences in the upazila.
National Flag was hoisted at all the schools and madrasas in Kapasia where students sang the National Anthem Sunday morning expressing solidarity with the Shahbagh protesters.
A monument designed by Rajib will be constructed on Kapasia Upazila Muktijoddha Chattar soon as the ministry concerned has already approved the design, said Mohammad Shahidullah, AL president of the upazila unit.

National Anthem boosts war crimes justice demand

Expressing solidarity with the Shahbagh protest, students render National Anthem after hoisting national flag on the premises of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College


The demand to try the war criminals took a new turn on Sunday as the students across the country sang the National Anthem to express solidarity with the Shahbagh protest.
When the clock struck 10 in the morning, the air across the country filled with "Amar sonar bangla, ami tomay bhalobashi" (My beloved Bengal my Bengal of gold, I love you.).
The National Flag was also hoisted throughout all educational institutions before singing of the National Anthem.
The students, after hoisting National Flag and singing National Anthem, also stood in silence for two-minute to pay glorious tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives during the country's Liberation War in 1971 and language movement in 1952.
All this took place following a call by the organiser of the Shahbagh movement.
The Shahbagh youths made the call Friday night, hours after one of their fellow activists was killed.
Ahmed Rajib Haidar, a key blogger and online activist, was found dead, bearing several stabs, near his Palash Nagar house in the capital's Pallabi area Friday night.

Outraged, the Shahbagh protesters demanded immediate arrest of the killers and banning pro-Jamaat blog Sonarbangla that had been carrying out propaganda against Rajib over the last few days.
Meanwhile, the Shahbagh protest that began on February 5 rolled into the 13th straight day on Sunday.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life converged on Shahbagh intersection, also known as 'Projonmo Chottor' where the National Anthem was also sung and the National Flag was raised at 10:00am.
The demonstrators were seen chanting different slogans demanding capital punishment for the war criminals.
They were also singing revolutionary songs to boost up the movement.
The youths started the demonstration hours after an international crimes tribunal that deals with the war crimes cases sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah to life term imprisonment for his crimes against humanity committed during the country's Liberation War in 1971.
Rejecting the verdict, Bloggers and Online Activist Network initiated the protest that soon turned into a mass movement. Within a few days, it spread to other parts of the country and even in abroad.
The protesters termed Rajib a martyr and a freedom fighter of new generation and vowed to carry out his mission which was to see the war criminals hanged.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after visiting the relatives of Rajib on Saturday said Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir have no right to do politics in Bangladesh, as they believe in terrorism, not democracy.
The killing incident prompted the protesters to go back to their 24-hour movement instead of seven-hour programme which they had declared hours before the death.
The organisers decided to limit the protest to seven hours daily considering people’s sufferings, especially of the patients of two adjacent hospitals—Birdem and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College and Hospital.
The protesters on February 10 submitted a six-point charter to the Speaker, demanding death penalty for all war criminals, and revocation of the state's power to grant them amnesty.
The PM on the same day thanked the youths for raising voice against the 1971 war criminals.

Rajib's janaza at Shahbagh

Thousands of people from different walks of life thronged Shahbagh to take part in the namaz-e-janaza of Shahbagh activist Ahmed Rajib Haidar at 'Projonmo Chattar' in the capital Saturday afternoon.

The law enforcers, however, could not arrest anyone in connection with the murder of the blogger till filing of this report in the evening, according to police.

After the first namaz-e-janaza at Shahbagh which began at 5:53pm, relatives left the venue to take Haidar’s body to his residence at Pallabi for another janaza.

The second namaz-e-janaza of Haidar was held at Palashngar in the capital's Mirpur area in the city’s Mirpur area around 7:45pm.

The protesters, who abandoned the plan to curtail the demonstration to seven hours from 3:00pm every day, maintained a solemn silence as the ambulance carrying Rajib’s body reached the venue around 5:30pm.

Maulana Syed Emdaduddin who led the prayer said he was proud to lead the namaz-e-janaza during such an auspicious moment of the country’s history.

Sajeeb Wajed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also joined the janaza of Rajib at Shahbagh.

Joy later expressed his solidarity with the protesters demanding death penalty to all war criminals.

Haidar’s body will be kept in a mortuary for the night. He would be buried at their village home in Kapasia of Gazipur on Sunday.

Heavily stabbed body of the 30-year-old blogger was found lying near his house at Pallabi in the capital Friday night.

Meanwhile, Rajib's father Nazimuddin filed a murder case with Pallabi Police Station Saturday morning against some unknown criminals.

Talking to The Daily Star, Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of the police station, said they could not arrest anyone till filing of the report around 6:00pm.

Earlier in the morning, the government has shutdown pro-Jamaat blog Sonarbangla that had been carrying out propaganda against Rajib over the last few days, an official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission confirmed The Daily Star.

The Shahbagh protesters have been demanding immediate arrest of the killers and banning of the pro-Jamaat blog for few days.

YOUTHS REKINDLE SPIRIT OF 71

The nation yesterday saw the biggest gathering in recent memory as tens of thousands thronged the capital's Shahbagh intersection to call for death penalty for the war criminals, including Abdul Quader Mollah, of 1971.

Men and women, boys and girls, young and old -- tens of thousands of them -- from all walks of life filled the few square kilometres area to the brim.

Since the daybreak, people, many with their families, started flocking the intersection first in their hundreds and then in thousands, carrying national flags, banners and placards for the 3:00pm mass rally. By then, the crowd stretched as far as the eye can see.

From Matsya Bhaban in the south to Kataban intersection in the north and from Hotel Ruposhi Bangla intersection in the east to TSC in the west, people were everywhere. Overwhelming was the participation of young generation -- students of schools, college and universities -- the life force of the movement.

In thunderous chants, they made their demand for death sentence to all war criminals and registered their determination to resist Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir.

It was the fourth day of the non-stop protest, which began hours after a war crimes tribunal on Tuesday sentenced Jamaat leader Quader Mollah to life term in prison for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

The movement was launched by Bloggers and Online Activist Network, but it soon transformed into a people's movement. Demonstrators say a life sentence for Mollah was too lenient. They want death sentence for him.

Protestors have kept the interaction in their possession since Tuesday afternoon, with several hundreds of them staying overnights without sleep.

From yesterday's rally, people took an oath to continue the movement until their demand is met. In addition to capital punishment to the war criminals, the demonstrators called for banning Jamaat and its student wing, Shibir.

People also vowed to boycott all businesses, banks, media outlets and social and cultural organisations owned by Jamaat leaders.

"We pledge to keep on demanding trial under a special tribunal of those Razakars and Al-Badrs who were convicted and were under trial but freed after 1975," said Imran H Sarkar, administering the oath from a makeshift stage erected atop a truck at the intersection.

Imran, convener of Bloggers and Online Activist Network, is one of the initiators of the movement.

"We pledge that we will continue our movement from Teknaf to Tetulia under the leadership of general people until highest punishment is given to Razakars-Al-Badrs who committed crimes against humanity like genocide and rape in 1971," protestors vowed after Imran.

The mass rally began with the recitation of a poem and rendering of the national anthem.

"This is another 1971," said Mili Rahman, widow of Birshrestha Matiur Rahman.

"Today we are united in voicing our single demand. We freed the country in 1971 and today you will free it once again from Razakars and Jamaat-Shibir…. None can hold us back," she said.

Noted writer Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said, "I am here to offer my apology to you. I wrote in newspapers that the new generation only hits 'like' on Facebook and writes on blogs, but does not take to the streets. You have proved me wrong, and I thank you all for this."

"The year 2013 has turned into 1971 and those of you who did not see 1971 are now witnessing '71 in the year of 2013," he added.

"Study when it's time to study, write poems when it's time to write poems, listen to music when it's time to listen to music … and take to the streets when you need to. It is the happiest day of my life. All the martyrs and the country people are thankful to you," he said.

Veteran journalist Kamal Lohani said the whole nation heard the roars of the mass people. "The only punishment to the war criminals, not only Quader but all, is capital punishment. Besides, their politics will also have to be banned."

A number of speakers came down heavily on a section of foreign media for what they called its negative coverage of the war crimes trial and the ongoing movement. Protesters were heard chanting slogans against some foreign media.

Speaking at the rally, Sector Commanders Forum Senior Vice-chairmen Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah said, "It's a rebirth of 1971….

"We'll have to carry on our movement until our one and only demand is met."

Also spoke on the occasion Dhaka University Vice-chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, Jahangirnagar University VC Prof Anwar Hossain, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University VC Prof Pran Gopal Dutta, Hasan Imam, cultural personality and novelist Anisul Haq, Shaon Mahmud, daughter of Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, and Shyamoli Nasreen Chowdhury, widow of Shaheed Dr Alim Chowdhury.

A numerous numbers of socio-cultural and political organisations and professional bodies expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.

Addressing the rally, Hasan Tarek, general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, demanded cancellation of memberships of Quader Mollah and Kamaruzzaman from the Jatiya Press Club.

Some private university students joined the demonstration wearing black T-shirts and ropes hanging from their necks, demanding capital punishment to all war criminals.

"Either the war criminals will be hanged or we will hang ourselves," said Rezaul Karim, an MBA student of Independent University Bangladesh.

Tania Tun Noor, a BBA student of Dhaka City College, held a placard that read: "Shakunera akhono potaka chhareni," meaning the vultures are still clutching the flag.

"The theme of the placard is that the black hands of Jamaat-Shibir are still clutching our flag and they are trying to take the country backward," she said.

Around 100 children, aged between four and 15, of Khelaghar Dhaka Mohanagar joined the movement, chanting: "Ar kono dabi nai, Razakarder fashi chai," which means "we want nothing except for the capital punishment to the Razakars."

ENTIRE COUNTRY IN 71 MOOD

While the capital's Shahbagh saw a massive demonstration yesterday, many other parts of the country were swept by protests demanding capital punishment to all the war criminals including Abdul Quader Mollah.

The protesters staged sit-in and rallies interspersed with brief cultural programmes and chanted slogans against war criminals and Jamaat-Shibir.

In Chittagong, cultural activists of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshthi continued their sit-in before the Chittagong Press Club. They sat round with musical instruments, singing songs, reports our correspondent.

Thousands of people joined the sit-in with anti-war crime banners, and placards.

Like the previous two nights, the Jamal Khan area was abuzz with a huge crowd till late at night.

Protesters chanted, “Ektai Dabi -- Razakarder Fashi Chai.” The youths sang patriotic and parody numbers.

In the divisional city of Barisal, protesters raised Ekatturer Mancha and staged demonstrations in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall. Students of fine arts painted on the road and organised children's open painting festival there.

Outraged over the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal-2 against Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah, thousands of people in Sylhet staged a rally in front of the Central Shaheed Minar for the third consecutive day yesterday.

In Faridpur, leaders and activists of different socio-political and cultural organisations took to the streets at Alipur intersection in the town demanding death sentence to the war criminals.

Besides, the local unit of Sector Commanders Forum and several leftist political parties staged a sit-in at Shatmatha, the centre point of the town. They demanded the government ban Jamaat-Shibir and mete out capital punishment to Quader Mollah.

Protests were also held in Narayanganj, Kishoreganj, Madaripur and Satkhira.

Meanwhile, Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday said the youths will expel the fundamentalists from Bangladesh.

He was addressing the opening ceremony of a temple at Kharabagh village in Nesarabad of Pirojpur.

SPRING ADDS COLOUR, ZEAL

One can argue that spring came to Shahbagh nine days ahead of its official start. That it came on the day the nation took to the streets, seeking to finally get justice for the crimes committed against humanity four decades ago.

It came on February 5 when the so-called “apathetic” and “apolitical” men and women used Facebook and blogs not to start a new fad, but a revolution.

That it came on the day when the housewife in Moghbazar, the businesswoman in Gulshan and the garment worker in Mirpur felt an urge so strong that they left their homes and offices for Shahbagh to chant slogans together with the demonstrators.

And that it arrived on the day when the rickshaw puller from Chittagong came to Dhaka with his meagre savings, having heard of the mass movement, to be a part of history.

And they may all be right. But yesterday, on Pahela Falgun, the people's movement at Shahbagh celebrated spring officially in all its revolutionary glory, chanting slogans such as, "Boshonter kalo daag, ei Boshonte muchhe jak" (let the black spot of the spring be wiped out this spring).

According to the demonstrators, the "black spot" is Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that actively opposed the country's Liberation War and six of whose top leaders are now being tried for war crimes.

Men and women flocked to the protest venue, vowing to make it the season of reawakening and renewal. Songs turned into slogans, slogans songs -- all tuned to the demand for a just trial of the war criminals.

Garlands and crowns made with spring flowers lent the sombre air of Shahbagh a festive look, without compromising the seriousness of the cause. Marigolds, roses and green leaves were used to transform the streets into colourful canvases to express the sentiments of the protestors.

"Even the cuckoo sang songs of resistance this year," said a university student, dressed in a yellow sari. The words “We want death sentence” were inscribed on one of her cheeks and “Pahela Boshonto” on the other.

Instrumental music played at Fine Arts' Bakultola, only a few yards away from the Shahbagh intersection, heralded the beginning of spring at 7:00 in the morning. As usual, the day's programme began with the rendering of the national anthem.

A cultural programme began at 3:00pm with protest songs and poetry recitations and continued through the evening, as thousands of people gathered. Some stopped by the demonstration to and from Bokultola and TSC where they went for the spring celebrations. Others remained at Shahbagh all day, refusing to take a break even to enjoy the events of the new season.

Fakir Alamgir, Subir Nandi and singers from Chhayanaut, among others, engaged the crowd with renditions of patriotic and inspirational songs.

A one-minute silence was observed from 7:00pm to commemorate the sacrifices of those who lost their lives during the Liberation War, the women who were raped, and those killed by Jamaat-Shibir since the independence. The silence was broken by the emotive renditions of violin, during which the whole crowd stood still.

Following the one-minute silence, a large portrait of Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam was unveiled near the main stage of the protest venue.

Later in the evening, Selina Hayat Ivy, mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation, joined the movement to express her solidarity.

In the morning, representatives of the Shahbagh protest and different student groups placed wreaths at Shaheed Minar in remembrance of Debashis Bhattacharya Rupam, a Chhatra Moitree member who was killed by Shibir on Pahela Falgun in 1995.

The movement began on February 5, soon after a war crimes tribunal sentenced Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah to life term in prison for crimes against humanity during the 1971 war. The protest was initiated by Bloggers and Online Activist Network, but it soon turned into a mass movement. Within days, it spread to other parts of the country, with the call for capital punishment to all war criminals getting louder and louder.

Yesterday, the organisers urged all to participate in a candlelight vigil from wherever they are at 7:00pm today to eradicate darkness from people's minds and from the country.

They also thanked the Jatiya Press Club for cancelling the membership of Jamaat leaders Quader Mollah and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman.

Belal Mohammad, one of the founders and organisers of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, expressed solidarity with the protesters.

Actor Bonya Mirza, media personality Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu, singer Krishnokoli, among others, came to Shahbagh to lend their support.